Alberto Contador took most by surprise when he finished third in the first mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The Spaniard was overjoyed at the finish and admitted that he had never expected to do so well.

Going into the Vuelta a Espana, Alberto Contador played down expectations, claiming that he had to take things day by day as he had just come back from injury. Today he proved that he is fully ready to battle for the overall win when he finished third in the first mountain stage.

“To finish third in the same time as Froome and Valverde is almost a victory for me," he said. "Had I just made the top 10, I’d have been happy. My knee still hurts sometimes but fingers crossed, I hope it’ll last like this.

“I never could imagine that I would be doing so well in a summit finish, above all in the sixth stage and without feeling absolutely great. I’m very happy. It was a big surprise. I looked back and there were only eight riders, they [Valverde and Movistar] piled on the pressure and I could respond to that.

“I focused too much on the finish banner, rather than waiting and going for second place on the stage, but in any case, it was hard to do better. We have to congratulate Valverde: he won this one hands down.

“On a day of such extreme heat, some people suffer more than others. I’m very satisfied but now I have to get some rest.”

"I haven’t prepared for the Vuelta as I should have done, I’m still below my level, I don’t have the same weight as at the Tour de France but I’m getting better and better every day. It’s been hard for me to watch the Tour from home. Honestly, if there’s a possibility to attack some day, I’ll do it.”

"The goal was to put Alberto in a good position entering the foot of the climb and the boys did a very good job guiding him in the finale," sports director Steven De Jongh said. "From here, we didn't really know what to expect after his crash during the Tour and the break from racing so I guess he took us all by surprise today and naturally I'm more than happy with this result. However, we still have to go easy and we take the race stage by stage and see how things are going.

"Tomorrow's stage is probably going to be just as hot as today but I expect a bigger group battling it out between them and we obviously have to keep protecting Alberto."